Reboot
by kingdomfantasies
Summary: Chell has been gone from Aperture Science for a year now. GLaDOS realises why she needs Chell. They both want to say their final words but all they wonder is whether they have both remembered their friendship and their love. {One-shot. No pairing}


**Portal ~ Reboot**

_When you've been nearly killed twice something definitely clicks in your mind. Kill that person with deadly neurotoxin and watch them plummet into the underworld. That terrible person is Chell. However, I suppose you have to realise everyone has their flaws and let them off. I would consider letting Chell off but her flaw is being a terrible person. She's past help too, it even states it in her file underneath a sentence about her strong will as a test subject. How right that file is. Over the years, it has been challenging having her in the Enrichment Centre I confess. Every single test I put out there no matter how hard she managed to complete it. One time, I gave her a test chamber that was meant for the army during the Black Mesa incident. The course was made near enough impossible because Black Mesa were using it. And what type of person would want Black Mesa to succeed? Wait, I have a joke for you. Here it is._

_Do you know what a joke is?_

_**Black Mesa.**_

_Even after all the Turrets, pits of toxic waste and reverse psychology she still managed to get to the end. Then because the thought she was such a clever penguin, she decided to waddle her fat arse down to my chamber and pull out the personality cores and **DESTROYED MY TEST FACILITIES**. That was only the start of my problems. That stupid moron Wheatley came along, made sure Chell got out of her hyper sleep and tried to kill me again. Mr Moron then decided it would be good to ask to be plugged into my mainframe and put my data into a potato. That was the worst experience of my robotic life and I will never let that go. This was both a positive and negative experience. Chell became my best friend. At the end of everything, I even confessed to her that all that time I thought she was my greatest enemy, she was my best friend. The woman who tried to kill me and plugged a robotic manic in and let him control the entire Aperture Science Enrichment Centre became someone I trusted and grew close to._

_Over the year she has been gone from Aperture, everything has become frightfully quiet. All of the test subjects have died or left. Chell was the only one left and I told her to go. She was in the Enrichment Centre all her life that she could remember. I remember gathering all the children as test subjects on Bring Your Daughter to Work Day. It's quite ironic how I was Chell's experiment of potato science when she had been by experiment for years. I was her test potato. Thinking back to that day in 1998, it shows I've made many wrong mistakes. When the full of Aperture Science was flooded with neurotoxins, the people fell to the ground crashing on the metal walkways. Majority of the people still breathing were put in the Relaxation Vaults in the Enrichment Centre. When the Morality Cores were installed, yes they were a pain for a while but, however incredibly brief I felt it, I knew that was wrong. Then the Morality Core was taken out and all that emotion was taken away since I went back to hating everything and testing Chell to her limits. Chell is a very interesting character. As I've mentioned, I felt more attached and friendly to her now that we shared time together. You know, general potato to test subject conversations. But after thinking about her a bit more, I can still feel this strange attachment to her, something that seems to make me feel as if I've known her through more than just being a test subject._

_Over the years, I heard rumours from the Aperture scientists mentioning Cave Johnson and his assistant Caroline. Caroline and Cave were always suspected of having a relationship before he went insane from mercury poisoning. Caroline and Cave were close and as well as the relationship there was rumours of a quick marriage and even a child. But eventually Cave descended into complete and utter madness. Cave had mentioned brain mapping as part of his countless experiments. Another part of this was trying to put a person's memories and information into a computer. It ended up that Caroline had ended up being me. GLaDOS. Caroline had always been in my memory and it took voice messages and a picture and countless reminders to realise who I was really. That was when the forgiveness came._

_At the moment, I don't even know if I have enough power to last me another hour. The part of Aperture Science I was housed after I let Chell go ended up collapsing yesterday. All the shattered glass, the metal walkways and platforms, the Weighted Storage and Companion Cubes that were all stacking up on top each other and the parts of my system all broke down and buried themselves everywhere. At least no one could see it. Cave made the best decision of purchasing somewhere so distant from everywhere. Then again, I don't know if I want to go and die. It doesn't sound very nice at all. Once in a test chamber, I told Chell that android hell was a real place. Is it? Now that has be thinking of what I've done again. Those precious lives of the test subjects and employees were stripped away from them too early. Some had a chance once their information was transferred into a Companion Cube. Even then, their life was taken even worse than the others. Some were just squashed into that small little cube. They had probably grown a new bond with the test subject that held the cube. Of course the cubes talked and most of them probably thought the test subjects as enemies and did threaten to stab them. That was my cruel surprise. Reverse psychology, works every single time. But watching some of the test subjects get attached to that cube like it was their child again made me think of Chell. What is it about her anyway? The idiotic maternal instinct I get that I'm getting most robotic life forms don't experience is driving me mad! Chell is just a useless, fat, mute human who is constantly persistent not to give up. Somewhere out there I bet Chell is just having the time of her life mentally talking to her stupid mute self about cake and portal guns. That's all she knows about really. Cake. Portal guns. Actually, what am I saying? Chell is a friend. She isn't just a test subject. She is a hard-working (mute) test subject who could teach a lesson in bravery to anyone. A girl who has managed to defeat an incredibly advanced AI and battle army level test chambers deserves a metaphoric medal in the non-existent bravery Olympics. Chell is not an enemy or a useless human. Sometimes I've thought about her and wanted to tell her that. I want to see her smile and laugh or do something else apart from frown. That's it now. I'm pretty sure I'm on my last legs even though I've never had legs. Through portals, lies about cake, lies about murder (they weren't actually lies initially) lies about surprises and a whole other lot of lies, I've learned something. _

_Love. Love can be robotic and…_

Silence.

* * *

"Wake up! Wake up, you damn machine!" I heard a voice crack. My systems must still be still partly alive. I'm not dead yet! But who the hell was talking? My visionary senses are off and I can't see a thing.

"What's wrong with you GLaDOS? Wake up!" The same voice cried. The person sounds as if they are upset.

"Wh…at?" I managed to get out. The settings were still online for my speech.

"You're alive! I've been looking for you through the rubble. GLaDOS, it's me. Chell." She said relieved. Chell? Chell, the test subject I had a heartfelt speech about earlier? She came all the way back to Aperture for me?

"Chell? You're here. Chell, you're actually here and you're not mute." I said in my regular voice. If I could really display emotion, I don't know what I would be feeling.

"Yes. I needed to talk to you. About science actually." Chell laughed.

"Science? What about science? There's no Aperture Science now if it isn't clear enough." I said referring to all the wreckage around us.

"There is technology. I've seen it. It can transfer your data from a brain or computer to a human. You can be alive. But really alive." Chell said touching the cracked screen.

"You want me to be a person? After all the things I did to you, you are here. Why?"

"Do you think that I've forgotten out friendship? Of course not! I don't care! You are here and you aren't killing me so that's okay! There won't be an end to that friendly love we had. You might have been a potato but I guess appearances don't matter. And yes, I want you to be a person. You would be the friendliest human ever." Chell explained. I could yet again hear her tears through her voice.

"Oh, Chell. If only I could see you, I bet you've slimmed right down on the outer world diet of Aperture Science tinned beans." I said half-joking. I'm guessing she liked it since I heard a faint laugh.

"You know, I still get nightmares about the tests. I'm worried that around every corner there is a turret waiting to burn me with a laser or that there isn't a way out in a room. It's scary, but I manage. A year has been too long. I sing myself a lullaby. It seems a bit stupid and childish but it's what I can remember someone singing to me when I was young. It might be made up though." Chell said distantly.

"You get nightmares? I'm so sorry for those days in the test chambers. It hasn't been until recently I've realised how many mistakes I've made. There isn't anything I can really give you. If I become a person, I guess I could make you a cake? And I'm not lying this time, I swear." I said honestly. That was my confession. I was sorry. Incredibly sorry.

"You know what? That sounds good. We should do that sometime. Right now, I need to get you to the hospital. They do the surgery there. I just need something with all your data on it." Chell said.

This is it. Chell is taking me to become a real person with feelings and emotions and a heart. All my data is stored on a card. If that goes, I go. For a bit, I guess I will be dead. If I'm going to see someone on the other side as a human, I'm willing to kill myself a million times. Humans have always been interesting creatures to study. Now it's my time to become one.

"Get the card at the back. Before you do though, I want to say goodbye. Once the card is taken out that means all my data is gone and I'm essentially dead. That is my version of a heart, I guess." I said.

"For science." Chell said.

* * *

**A/N: After about a week or so of editing, I've finally finished my Portal one-shot! I love the character of GLaDOS and how she can have mood swings and personality changes so instantly. She's so adorable! XD I've really enjoyed writing as her and writing Chell as a non-mute. GLaDOS is a brilliant one for a character study by the way, if you have to do that for a school project or task. Her progression and emotion is something that is fun to write about. You may have noticed the different things that aren't confirmed in there too. I've always loved the different theories behind Chell & the Companion Cube so I also decided to throw those in there. Just at the end to say thank you for reading and that you have reached the end of the test. **

**Please assume the Party Escort Submission Position or you will miss the party... **

**There will be cake?! Please?!**


End file.
